


There Is a Me in Team

by donutsweeper



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Personal Growth, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 11:57:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8978746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper/pseuds/donutsweeper
Summary: When Ezekiel and Jake are sent to recover a set of artifacts on their own things don't exactly go according to plan.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bette/gifts).



> A yuletide treat for a dedicated pinch hitter!

"Come on, Jones, hurry up!" Stone might have sounded a little angrier than usual, but Ezekiel couldn't really blame him, considering the bullets flying everywhere and the banging and crashing against the door and all the yelling and whatnot.

"I'm doing this as fast as I can," Ezekiel shouted back. "You know you can't rush genius!" Cracking a centuries' old safe required a different skill set than what he'd been using of late, but, while it might be a bit fiddly, it was still well within his area of expertise. 

The door finally gave way and crashed open under a swarm of guards before Stone could respond (and Ezekiel was sure there _would_ have been some kind of exasperated yet snarky response, Stone _always_ had a snarky response) and then Stone was too busy fighting to say anything annoying. Ezekiel was vaguely aware of someone swinging at him from behind at one point, but he'd almost gotten the tumblers lined up properly and he knew Stone would take care of it so he didn't pay it a whole lot of attention other than ducking down out of the way a bit more. And he was right, because by the time everything clicked into place there was only one other person still standing in the room and that was Stone. "Got it," Ezekiel shouted triumphantly as he threw open the safe. 

"The scroll and the ring both in there?" Stone asked, and, woah, what was with him being such a grumpy grump today?

Having not actually checked already, Ezekiel bent down and peered inside and, yep, there they both were. He pulled out the velvet lined reliquary Jenkins had given them to store everything in safely and slotted them into place. "Ta da!" he exclaimed, slamming the safe shut as he spun around.

"Wonderful. It took you long enough," Stone groused as he turned and lead the way back to the door to the Library.

"Hey, I made _great_ time, I'll have you know. In fact, I bet we beat Baird and Cassandra back by at least an hour!" Tucking the reliquary back into the bag, Ezekiel slung it over his shoulder and quickened his pace to get ahead of Stone. "Maybe even two. They were supposed to have that mystical wind thing to deal with."

Stone grunted in lieu of any kind of actual response and then stumbled when they crossed into the Library, crashing into Ezekiel, causing them both to fall to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

"What the hell, Stone? Get off me!" Ezekiel shouted, pushing at Stone and trying to get out from under him just as Jenkins approached.

"Ah, welcome back, Mister Jones, Mister Stone. Mister Stone?" It was only when Jenkins' voice suddenly switched from his typical bland greeting to a tone of concern that Ezekiel realized Stone wasn't just being an arsehole, but that something was wrong.

Stone groaned and rolled off of Ezekiel and up onto his knees. "It's fine, 'm fine," he muttered, but now that Ezekiel was actually paying attention, he could see that Stone not only had large lump blossoming over his right eye, but a dark, wet splotch was slowly spreading over his left shoulder and down his chest.

"You're bleeding." Ezekiel felt he had to point it out. It wasn't like Stone probably wasn't aware of it, but it still had to be said.

When Stone looked down though, he seemed to notice the wound for the first time, which was weird and probably not that great a sign. "Huh," he said, fingering the slash in his shirt. "I guess that knife _did_ get me. That last guy, the one with the sash? He was trying to sneak up behind you when you were working on the safe so I grabbed him and spun him around to take him out but I didn't have the room to block properly and, well…." He shrugged at that and then paled alarmingly. He didn't pass out, but he did kind of wobble for a second before Ezekiel grabbed him and held him steady before he could collapse onto him; Stone was heavy and that would have hurt.

Jenkins bent down, peered into Stone's eyes and then examined his shoulder. "Pupils are even and reactive. All things considered, it appears that the head wound is fairly minor and the slash is clean and only maybe… two inches long and thankfully not terribly deep either. It shouldn't be that serious as long as it's taken care of quickly, but considering his current coloring it would be best if we stop the bleeding as soon as possible." 

"What do you mean, 'we.' We nothing. You have fun with that, mate. Me, I don't care." It slipped out, before he even thought about it or realized what he said and how it would sound to the others. Stone looked at him, not upset, not hurt by the words or the implication behind them, just accepting of them and as if he were completely unsurprised by the callousness behind them and somehow _that_ was way worse than Jenkins' resulting disappointed glare. 

And had been kind of callous, hadn't it. Typical for him, sure, because he'd always been a 'put yourself first' kind of guy, but still, probably not the best thing for someone to hear when they'd just gotten hurt protecting his arse. 

Jenkins didn't comment on it, he just gestured to Stone and said, "Be that as it may, Mister Jones, I shall still require your assistance in getting him to where he can be treated." It was said in that tone of voice Jenkins had that didn't leave the option of doing anything other than what he'd ordered you to do. And as Ezekiel wasn't an idiot he shifted to Stone's right side, the one where he hadn't been hurt.

"Let's get you on your feet, Mister Stone." Jenkins glared at Ezekiel until he'd swung Stone's arm over his shoulder. "On three, if you will Mister Jones. One. Two. Three." Stone did a pretty decent job of getting up on his own, but without Ezekiel's help he wasn't too sure Stone would have stayed there, given the way he was swaying. "This way, please," Jenkins said as herded them in the direction of the infirmary.

Stone was looking like absolute shit by the time they got there. No wonder though, considering the amount of blood that was dripping everywhere. "I hope you're not expecting me to clean this mess up," Ezekiel complained to Jenkins when Stone brushed against the wall in the hall and left a smear of red there. "I have better things to do with my time then to waste it washing up after people that aren't me."

"No, Mister Jones, I can readily admit that the thought you might help out in that manner never even crossed my mind. I do, however, require your assistance for a few moments longer, if that won't take too much time out of your busy schedule." Jenkins gave him a pointed look that Ezekiel chose to ignore. 

It took a lot of effort, but Ezekiel refrained from rolling his eyes. "I suppose I can pencil you in. What do you need?"

"Remain with Mister Stone while I gather the necessities to treat him. It would be dangerous for him if he were to lose consciousness." 

"Don't talk about me like 'm not here," Stone complained. "You c'n go, Jones. I'm fine. I c'n stay awake on my own."

Ezekiel tried very hard not to laugh as he responded, "Yeah, the way you're slurring and keep closing your eyes and all isn't really going to convince anyone of that. Get what you need to get, Jenkins, I can hang out here for a few minutes anyway."

Jenkins nodded and began puttering about, randomly opening drawers and pulling out various supplies. Ezekiel, meanwhile, plunked down in the chair next to Stone and dug his phone out of pocket, thumbing open a game. It didn't take too much effort on his part to poke Stone every couple of minutes while he played. And if he was still there while Jenkins went to work patching up Stone? Well, neither of them commented on it.


End file.
